Paundraka Vāsudēva is a king appearing in the Bhagawat Purana. According to it, he was the king of Pundra Kingdom. Some sources state he was an ally of both Jarasandha, the king of

Magadha Magadha was a region and one of the sixteen sa, script=Latn, Mahajanapadas, label=none, lit=Great Kingdoms of the Second Urbanization (600–200 BCE) in what is now south Bihar (before expansion) at the eastern Ganges Plain. Magadha was ruled ...

and

Shakuni Shakuni ( sa, शकुनि, , ) plays a key role in the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He is one of the main antagonists of the Hindu epic ''Mahabharata''. He was the prince of the kingdom of Gandhara when introduced, later becoming its king a ...

, the king of the Gandhara Kingdom. He was a major enemy of

Krishna Krishna (; sa, कृष्ण ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme god in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is one ...

. He imitated Krishna, believing himself to be Vāsudeva, or God. Later he was killed by Krishna in battle. According to some scriptures, Paundraka was Krishna's doppelganger. He is considered to be an incarnation of the demoniac King Vena as per some sources.

Declaration to be God

Some versions of

Srimad Bhagavatam The ''Bhagavata Purana'' ( sa, भागवतपुराण; ), also known as the ''Srimad Bhagavatam'', ''Srimad Bhagavata Mahapurana'' or simply ''Bhagavata'', is one of Hinduism's eighteen great Puranas (''Mahapuranas''). Composed in Sa ...

, states that he was the son of Vāsudēva (Not to be mistaken with that

Vasudeva According to Hindu scriptures, Vasudeva (Sanskrit: वसुदेव, IAST: ''Vasudeva''), also called Anakadundubhi, (''anakas'' and ''dundubhis'' both refer to ''drums'', after the musicians who played these instruments at the time of his b ...

, who was the Father of Shri Krishna bhagwan) and Sutanu, the princess of Kasi.

Vāsudeva Krishna Vāsudeva ( sa, वासुदेव, ), later incorporated as Vāsudeva-Krishna (, "Krishna, son of Vasudeva"),"While the earliest piece of evidence do not yet use the name Krsna...." in Krishna-Vāsudeva or simply Krishna, was the son of V ...

, and as a son of Vāsudēva he was named Vāsudeva. He became the king of Kasi, because his grandfather was son-less. Vāsudēva could not enjoy the childhood of Paundraka, being held captive by KansaBhagavata Purana Skandha X Chapter 66, Motilal Bansaridass Publishers Book 4 Appendix (66A) pages 1884- 1885, additional verses in Vijaya-dhvaja's Bhagavata Purana, Chapter 69 Paundraka collected taxes from several kings. He foolishly believed the words of his friends, who said Paundraka was God. During the absence of Balarama in Dwarka (Srimad Bhagavatam, Canto 10, Chapter 65), Paundraka sent a message to

, stating that the symbols used by the latter belonged to him, such as the flag of

Garuda Garuda (Sanskrit: ; Pāli: ; Vedic Sanskrit: गरुळ Garuḷa) is a Hindu demigod and divine creature mentioned in the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain faiths. He is primarily depicted as the mount (''vahana'') of the Hindu god Vishnu. Garuda is a ...

. He declared he was the real Vāsudēva (God) and not Krishna, who is considered the Supreme Personality of Godhead. He ordered Krishna to stop using "his" identity. Then, Krishna waged war against Paundraka and killed him.

Death

According to the 66th chapter of Canto 10 of Srimad Bhagavatam, when Paundraka sent a message to Dwaraka stating that he was God, Krishna declared war against him. Paundraka's chariot was made similar to Krishna's, even with a flag of Garuda.After giving many warnings to him to leave his false claims of pretending as Vāsudēva, Krishna killed Paundraka by beheading off Paundraka's head with the

Sudarshana Chakra Sudarshana Chakra (Sanskrit: सुदर्शन चक्र, lit. "disc of auspicious vision", IAST: Sudarśana Chakra) is a spinning, celestial discus with 108 serrated edges, attributed to Vishnu and Krishna in the Hindu scriptures. The Sud ...

. The son of the king of Kashi, Sudakshina, created a demon using black magic to destroy Dwaraka, with the help of some corrupt priests. However, Krishna's Sudarshana Chakra set fire around

Kashi Kashi or Kaashi may refer to: Places * Varanasi (historically known as "Kashi"), a holy city in India **Kingdom of Kashi, an ancient kingdom in the same place, one of the sixteen Mahajanapadas **Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Varanasi * Kashgar, a cit ...

. The whole kingdom was burnt and Sudakshina and all his priests were killed.

Declaration to be God

Death

See also

References

Further reading